Uber Defendant Steals Lidar Technology

Alphabet for Google parent company alleges that it steals its allegations of trade secrets, Uber argues that it uses autopilot technology that is completely different from Alphabet. Uber is trying to persuade judges not to issue a ban, halting the development of his own driving technology, and even forcing the project leader Anthony Levandowski (Anthony Levandowski) to withdraw from the project.

Local time Friday, Uber for the first time in court to defend himself as saying that the charges against it is wrong. The court document shows that Uber said it did not get Waymo (Alphabet’s autopilot car department) to count thousands of documents it steals, nor does it need to use these documents to drive the development of its automated driving technology because it relies on self-developed Design – Significantly different from Waymo design.

Angela Padilla, vice president of legal counsel at Uber, said in a statement that “Waymo’s ban motion will not succeed: there is no evidence that there is a controversial 14,000 copies of a document that has entered the Uber server “Waymo claims that our multi-lens 5mw green laser radar is the same as their single-lens lidar, which is obviously wrong.” Waymo claimed that when the company was still serving, Levandowski plotted to switch to Uber. Levandowski and two other Waymo employees were accused of leaving thousands of secret documents, including laser radar board design, before leaving Ventmo last year, starting an autopilot startup Otto. Otto was later acquired by Uber for about $ 700 million.

Waymo said Friday that Uber claimed that it had never touched on the 14,000 copies of the document that was “dishonestly because it refused to view the most visible hiding places for these documents: the computer and other equipment for the autopilot project, and we asked the court to intervene There is conclusive evidence that Uber is already using, or plans to use our trade secrets to develop its lidar technology, which can be proven in both the laser radar circuit and the documents submitted to Nevada. ”

US Federal judge William A. Alsup has repeatedly reminded Uber and Levandowski that he was unwilling or unable to dismiss Waymo’s allegations. Alsop said this week that he had never seen such evidence in 42 years, warning Uber lawyers to call them “trouble”, which meant he was inclined to issue a ban against Uber’s use of controversial technology. Alsop has warned that he may forbid Levandowski to participate in the Uber autopilot before the case is closed.

Waymo accused Uber of relying on Levantes to steal a secret document to design its lidar – one of the key components of the autopilot. Uber said in defense that it would have started the development of LIDAR by 2015 when Levandowski had not joined. Uber said its lidar design is developed by the company’s robot expert Scott Boehmke (Scott Boehmke), known as the “Mount Fuji” project. Pomco’s partner is an engineer from Tyto Laser Radar. Uber said no one in Tyto had worked at Waymo. Tyto and Levandowski joined Uber at the same time. Waymo has a different view of Tyto’s origins: Tyto was founded in secret by Levandowski in Waymo.

The LIDAR emits a red laser pointer and receives objects that reflect the laser, creating a three-dimensional map of the car’s surroundings. Uber says its lidar is equipped with four lenses – two for laser lasers and two for receiving lasers. Waym Lidars are equipped with only one lens that can be fired or receive laser. Waymo said its suspicions were confirmed when Otto told the Nevada Vehicle Management Department in September that its autopilot truck relied on a custom laser radar system.

Uber said in a court paper on Friday that “Uber will continue to develop independently designed self-designed lasers if Uber does not use Waymo any trade secrets and will prevent Uber from doing business, stifling talent and innovating, postponing autopilot vehicles Talent and innovation is the main driving force behind the emerging auto driving industry, which ultimately endangers the public interest.